Academic Policies
Graduate degrees in American studies, art, education, counseling, communications, nonprofit administration, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and theatre are offered on a semester schedule. School of Business & Entrepreneurship programs and the Master of Public Administration, offered by the School of Human Services, are offered on a 5-term/year schedule. Programs offered through the College of Individualized Education are offered on a quarter schedule and are outlined further in the LCIE catalog.
All academic credit is given in credit hours. Full- and half-time student status is determined by the number of credit hours in which a student is enrolled during a given term. In credit hours, the academic load designations for graduate students are as follows:
Semester Programs
Full time Enrollment
Half-time Enrollment
- Six to eight credit hours
Less than Half-time Enrollment
- Five or fewer credit hours
Five-term Programs
Full time Enrollment
Half-time Enrollment
- Four to five credit hours
Less than Half-time Enrollment
- Three or fewer credit hours
Notes: (1) In order to remain in compliance with US visa regulations, students on an F1 visa must maintain full-time enrollment status by enrolling in a minimum of 6 credit hours per term.
(2) Course extensions (including culminating project extensions, capstone extensions, and thesis extensions) are not counted among a student’s “hours enrolled.” For this reason, students who are only enrolled in the completion of a thesis, capstone experience, or culminating project are considered less than half-time students.
(3) Active duty military personnel pursuing certain online graduate programs in the semester format may qualify for full-time enrollment status at 6 credit hours. Such students should contact the VA Certifying Official for more information.
No extra credit is permitted at the graduate level.
Student work is understood to include the assignments, homework, and other academic activities that are to be completed outside of instructional time (e.g. reading, studying, writing, and conducting research, etc.). Students should expect to spend a minimum of two hours per credit hour per week completing this work. Thus, for example, a minimum of six hours of work outside of class should be expected for a three credit hour course. Note that the time spent on completing work outside of class may increase based on the topic and level of the course.
A student who is not seeking certification or any degree with Lindenwood University may be accepted as a Non-Degree, “Special Status” student. Students accepted with Special Status may not take more than twelve (12) credit hours of regular, undergraduate, or graduate credit without being fully admitted. This policy does not apply to Cooperative (Workshop) credit. Students accepted with Special Status will not be eligible for financial aid or student loans as they are not fully admitted to the university. Payment arrangements must be made with the Business Office prior to attending class.